Korea will double the number of F-35 stealth fighter jets it will buy from the United States, including variants that will operate on the country’s first aircraft carrier, according to military sources.
A total of 40 Lockheed Martin-built F-35 jets will be acquired at a cost of approximately 8 trillion won ($6.7 billion), the sources said.
Priority will be given to the acquisition of 20 F-35B jets, which are capable of short takeoff and vertical landing, and are due to be deployed on a light aircraft carrier Korea plans to complete by the early 2030s.
An additional 20 F-35A jets — the conventional takeoff and landing variants – will be acquired afterwards, which will raise the total number of fifth-generation fighters in Korea’s air fleet to 80. In 2014, the country signed a $6.4 billion deal with the United States to acquire 40 F-35As as part of the first phase of its air force augmentation plan.